S'pore, M'sia Ministers' social media posts hint at possible happy ending to HSR saga

Final deal to come.

Sulaiman Daud | August 30, 2018, 02:51 PM

Malaysian Minister for Economic Affairs Azmin Ali is back in Singapore for further discussions, including working out the High Speed Rail project with Singapore.

On Aug. 29, he tweeted that he had arrived in Singapore for a "series of meetings", and thanked Singapore for the warm reception.

On Aug. 30, he tweeted a couple more times about his meetings with some familiar faces:

But those following the HSR saga might be more interested by this tweet:

Singaporean response

In case you can't see it, the caption reads:

"Further talks with Minister Khaw. We are inching closer to a win-win deal on HSR, thanks to the (hard work) of officials from both sides. #MEA"

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On his part, Minister Khaw shared his own thoughts on the meeting on his Facebook page:

In case you can't see it, the caption reads:

"Always delightful meeting Minister Azmin Ali, brainstorming ideas on how to further our bilateral relationship. There is so much we can do together, for mutual benefits. He is an inspiring leader. We should be able to announce our joint decisions on RTS and HSR soon."

Win-win?

At face value, a win-win deal sounds good.

But Azmin's tweet did not reveal further details on what such a deal might look like.

Similarly, while the tone of Minister Khaw's post was optimistic, it also did not provide further details, although he mentioned that an announcement should be coming soon.

Malaysia will incur compensation costs paid to Singapore if they ultimately decide to officially terminate the project.

Said Minister Khaw in Parliament on July 9:

"(It is in) Malaysia’s own interest to officially inform us of its position on the HSR project early on to minimise the amounts involved.

The Singapore Government will continue to press for official clarification from the Malaysian Government. There are appropriate processes at law in case Malaysia should wish to propose changes to the bilateral agreement, or to terminate it."

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Top image adapted from Khaw Boon Wan's Facebook page.